Chennai Auto Driver Donates Son's Organs

S. Govindaraj, a 27-year-old engineer at KSK Mahanadi Power Company Limited, Hyderabad, complained of severe chest pain on the morning of 24th January 2011. He was rushed to Yashoda Hospital, Somajiguda, where he was admitted in the ICU. When a coronary angiogram was performed, it was observed that he was suffering from severe coronary artery disease. While he was on medication in the ICU, he became unresponsive on 25th January. Unfortunately, on 26th January 2011, he was declared "brain dead" by the doctors.

Govindaraj's father, an Auto driver from Chennai, said that his son had mentioned to him about his interest in donating eyes, and hence wanted to donate his eyes. Upon hearing this, Mr. Raghuram, Convenor, MOHAN Foundation rushed to the hospital and motivated Govindaraj's father, Mr. Sukumar, to donate his son's solid organs along with the eyes. While Mr. Sukumar was reluctant initially, Mr. Raghuram’s perseverance, along with motivation by the colleagues of Mr. Govindaraj, yielded positive results.

As Yashoda hospital is not a licensed hospital for deceased organ transplantation, Govindaraj's body was shifted with the help of portable ventilator to Global Hospitals, where his liver, kidneys, heart valves and eyes were retrieved. All the organs were shared among city-based transplant centres. This is the first organ donation for the year 2011 facilitated by MOHAN Foundation, Hyderabad.
With this donation, MOHAN Foundation, Hyderabad, has had 107 organ donors, who donated all the organs. Besides this there have been other donations for eyes and heart valves. A total of 198 kidneys, 75 livers, 9 hearts, 58 heart valves and 288 corneas and 1 pancreas have been retrieved and they have given a new lease of life to patients that were suffering with end stage organ failure.

Govindaraj's father, Mr. Sukumar, mentioned that he had read about the goodness of organ donation in dailies in Chennai and how Tamilnadu was at the forefront of organ donation. Although in deep grief, Mr. Sukumar said that he was happy in the knowledge that his son had given a new lease of life to eight patients.

Two Year Old Hari Kiran Donates Organs

ndhra Pradesh, has become a saviour of three lives. On the morning of 13th August, doctors at Hope Hospital found that Hari Kiran has a clot in the brain and his chances of survival are slim. He was put on ventilator immediately, and was declared “brain dead” on 18th August. The poor parents immediately volunteered to donate his organs. They knew about organ donation and wanted to see their son alive in some more people who needed organs desparately. Their family doctor, Dr. R. Dhananjay, along with family friend, Mr. Rajendra Kumar, contacted MOHAN Foundation for organ donation.

MOHAN Foundation swung into action immediately and retrieved his two kidneys, heart valves and two corneas early hours of 19th August. Both the kidneys were retrieved and used en-block for one patient at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences. Heart valves were donated to Innova Children’s Heart Hospital, and eyes were donated to L.V. Prasad Eye Institute.

Kidney donations light up many lives

MUMBAI: What makes Kandivli resident Zamil Chaudhary different from other men is his donation of a kidney
to ailing wife Aslihaunisa.

Statistics available across India show that more wives-over 80%-donate kidneys to their husbands than vice-versa. "I saw in her eyes the desire to live and bring up our children well,'' says the scrapdealer about the kidney donation that took place a year ago.

Lalji Patel, at 72, wanted to do something for his grandson Nishit, who had been having health problems since birth. When the boy turned eight a few months ago, the grandfather donated a kidney to him.

Now, the Ghatkopar boy, who was born with his urinary bladder outside his body-which led to a series of operations and infections, leaving him with failed kidneys-has been leading a normal life, complete with fun and games.

On Thursday, the Chaudharys and the Patels will participate in unlikely games-Transplant Games 2011 at Goregaon Sports Club-to underline how transplants can change the life of patients with kidney failure

Manavi Rodrigues, a 45-year-old housewife from Santa Cruz who donated a kidney for husband Richard, will be there as well. "I want to be there because I never knew that live donations can take place. I found out a couple of years into my husband's suffering that transplants are safe,'' she says.

Awareness about kidney diseases and transplants are abysmally low in India, says Dr Bharat Shah, whose NGO Narmada Kidney Foundation is organising Transplant Games 20011.

The foundation has been organising Donors' Day for the last 11 years on November 30, but it postponed the function this year because of the terror attacks. "Very few know that kidney disease is the fourth leading cause of death across the world,'' says Dr Shah.

"It is shocking that in India, there are a lot of misconceptions about the health of a donor. People don't know that donors can lead normal lives with one kidney and that transplants can transform the life of a patient,'' he adds.

Jagatjit Singh is an example of how a transplant can change life. "I used to be weak and had difficulty breathing. The twice-a-week dialysis would leave me so tired that I wouldn't be able to attend work,'' recalls the 58-year-old hotelier. His wife Paramjit couldn't bear to see his plight and donated a kidney to get him back on track. "Now our lives are back to normal,'' says Paramjit.

Mumbai girl saved three lives after death

MUMBAI: If Akola earned infamy in recent times as kidney kingpin Santosh Raut’s hometown, a kidney patient from the same town has brought it some redemption.

On Sunday, 23-year-old Amruta Teredesai lost her battle against chronic kidney disease at Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital, but her family donated her liver and eyes to change forever the lives of three patients in the city.

Amruta came to Mumbai from Akola on February 19 after her college friends and relatives collected Rs 40,000 for her travel and medical expenses.

"We got so much goodwill that we decided to give something back to society—the organ donation was our thanksgiving," said Amruta’s maternal uncle Ravi Deshpande.

Her doctor, Nikhil Kibe, had treated Amruta, the daughter of a weaver, free of cost since her chronic kidney disease was detected a month ago. "We want the country to know that Akola is also home to helpful people and doctors," Kibe said.

Dr Horror is just an aberration, he added.

In Mumbai on Sunday evening, the family of a 50-year-old Dombivli man was waiting anxiously for the completion of his liver transplant operation.

"The patient had Hepatitis C cirrhosis and had been waiting for a recipient for a long time," said Jaslok Hospital’s liver specialist Dr Aabha Nagral.

Amruta’s corneas were sent to an eye bank which would give them to two corneally blind patients.

Amruta’s mother Mangala was to donate a kidney for her 23-year-old daughter, who was pursuing her postgraduate degree in Sanskrit and hoped to become a teacher.

"But Amruta had an aneurysm in her brain that had began bleeding in Akola itself," said Dr Madan Bahadur, nephrologist from Jaslok Hospital who was treating her.

While the city doctors thought they could operate on her brain and contain her aneurysm (an abnormal bulge of an artery), her chronic kidney disease and the accompanying high blood pressure meant they didn’t get an opportunity to operate.

On Saturday, her aneurysm started bleeding again and she slipped into a coma. When approached for organ donation, the family was willing.

"At least some of her organs will see a full lifetime," her uncle said.

Incidentally, Amruta’s donation marks the second deceased (cadaver) donor for Mumbai in February, said coordinator of the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) Sujata Ashtekar. In the first fortnight, 42-year-old Bhiwandi resident Venkatesh Konda’s family donated his kidneys and eyes at Bombay Hospital.

An active cadaver donation programme has been cited as the only cure for the malaise of kidney bazaar that has been plaguing India, but cadaver donations haven’t taken off in the country.

In 2007, for instance, Mumbai saw only seven cadaver donations while the patient pool, needing transplants, runs into lakhs.

According to Dr Bahadur, "Doctors fight to the end to save patients’ lives, but today the fight should in some cases be extended beyond death to save organs, to save lives."

Dr Kibe added that Amruta’s story should inspire others to donate organs.

Mishap victim's family donates his organs

7 Jan 2009, 0013 hrs IST, Vijay Singh, TNN

NAVI MUMBAI: On New Year's day, 22-year-old aspiring merchant navy officer Inderraj Singh Majithia lost his life on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in an accident.

But, despite their tragedy, the Vashi-based Majithias ensured that some others could smile. They donated Inderraj's organs to save the lives of those who needed it critically.

Talking to TOI on Tuesday, grief-stricken elder brother Sunny Majithia said: "The fatal accident on the Expressway came as a big shock to all of us. It was while Inderraj was later shifted to Wockhardt Hospital in Mulund that our family took a collective decision to donate his kidneys and liver so that some others could live.''

The victim's aunt, Shirley Singh, added that the highly supportive and proactive role played by the doctors and staff at Wockhardt also helped them take the decision.

"We learnt from the hospital that only seven such organ transplants have taken place in the last three years. Our boy is gone for ever but he has saved two critically ill kidney patients whose names we don't even know as the rules do not allow this,'' she said, thanking hospital neuro-surgeon S N Shenoy and medico-social workers Sujata Nadar and Neelam Choudankar for being extremely sensitive to their grief.

But Inderraj's liver was damaged because of the lapse of time and so only the two kidneys were finally transplanted on to two patients.

Zonal deputy commissioner of police Ashok Dudhe appreciated the noble gesture, saying: "This is the first time in my policing career that I have come across such a positive act in the midst of tragedy. The Majithia family kept their hearts and minds in the right place to help others live another day.''

Manni (Inderraj's pet name) was to join a merchant navy firm as a seaman on Wednesday. But the day now will see a condolence meet at the Vashi gurdwara between 3 pm and 4 pm.

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